The American Association of Critical Care Nurses has issued a new study concerning medical malpractice in our nation’s hospitals.
This is scary stuff. The reports says that each year “one in twenty in-patients will be given the wrong medication, 3.5 million will get an infection from someone who did not wash his or her hands or take appropriate precautions, and 195,000 will die because of mistakes made while they’re in the hospital.” The study goes on to say that 60% of medication errors are caused by mistakes in interpersonal communication.
The study explains that the majority of health care providers break rules, make mistakes, or apppear to behave incompetently, but less than 1 in 10 say anything about it.
The study is fascinating and speaks volumes about the need for reform in our health care system in an effort to protect patients from injury or death.
Too busy to read the 19 page study? Read the Executive Summary.